Its last owners were Sea Containers; the company ran a small fleet of two high-speed SeaCat catamaran ferries in its final year.

However, management at Hoverlloyd was not convinced the UK government would sanction any form of arrangement between Seaspeed and a foreign company.

Draper had been involved in filling empty passenger seats aboard the new Boeing 747 jumbo jets in the early 1970s when IATA regulations prohibited discounting.

The most damaging mistake was to increase the number of crossings operated, over 10,000 in 1982, which did not match demand and the decision to briefly re-open the Ramsgate route for the summer season which was counter-productive.

The SR.N4 craft, moreover, could not accommodate the recently introduced double-deck and one-and-a-half deck coaches and this part of the market was lost.

[9] In February 1984, the UK government refused to provide further guaranteed loans, British Rail sold its 50% ownership which it had retained in the company (and its losses) for a nominal sum of £1 to a syndicate consortium of 5 directors.

[10] The company immediately adopted premium instead of parity pricing, justified on the grounds that a faster service was expected to be more expensive.

[13] Being part of a larger shipping company allowed fresh re-capitalization, cheaper fuel as well as access to legal services.

After sustaining losses annually since 1995 (the last financial year the company returned a pre-tax profit) it was clear, by the early 2000s, Hoverspeed could no longer continue operating business-as-usual.

Consequently, Sea Containers announced it refused to support Hoverspeed’s losses on the English Channel and that they would cease operations on the Dover-Calais route, ending over 40 years of service.

Superseacat One which had operated for Hoverspeed on its now-closed Newhaven – Dieppe (2000 and 2002–2004) and Dover – Calais / Ostend (2001) fast ferry services was sold in April 2006 to Acciona Trasmediterránea and was renamed Almudaina Dos.

The closure of Hoverspeed left a single company in the United Kingdom still operating hovercraft flights, Hovertravel.

Since the closure of Hoverspeed in 2005, the Dover Hoverport had remained unused until SpeedFerries moved to the site from the Eastern Docks.